


Green Eyed Monster

by Cornerofmadness



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hints of Brightwell, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jealousy, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24151909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerofmadness/pseuds/Cornerofmadness
Summary: Dani has to face a crime taking place firmly in Malcolm’s societal strata with a family he has a history with all the while dealing with some unwanted feelings of her own. She’s never considered herself a jealous person so finding herself in this place takes her by surprise.
Comments: 66
Kudos: 85
Collections: Trope Bingo: Round Fourteen





	1. Murder in the One Percent

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Prettybutt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prettybutt/gifts).



> **Disclaimer:** Not mine, Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver owns it
> 
> **Notes:** This is written for Prettybutt for the prompt of Dani jealous. It also fulfills trope bingo’s prompt of case fic. This is set between _Stranger Beside You_ and _Scheherazade_ (except for the epilogue is just post _Scheherazade_ ). The Catherwoods and the Brakes have attitudes that are ugly and not reflective of my own.

_“Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. ” ― Carrie Fisher_

XXX

Chapter One

If there was one thing Dani hadn’t expected was for Bright to bounce into the station with a grin that actually reflected in his eyes. Usually all his glee and swagger stopped at his lips. His was a face made for showing his emotions, and he used it to deceive at times, but it was those blue eyes of his that betrayed what he was truly feeling each and every time. For once, Dani thought he was actually happy and it had nothing to do with a case because they had none. Before she could say anything, he eeled his way into Gil’s office, closing the door behind him. Fair enough. By now she and JT had come to realize Gil was the dad Malcolm always wanted but an odd sense of disappointment nibbled at her that she hadn’t been included in whatever he was telling Gil because she was sure it was about why he was so happy. She shook her head, trying to clear out that strange disappointment.

In less than five minutes of her filling in boring paperwork, Dani heard the muffled sounds of the phone ringing. A minute later Gil opened the door and beckoned to her and JT. “We have a case.”

Dani pulled her gun out of the desk drawer and made sure her badge was on her belt loops as Malcolm came back out of the office not only happy but now positively vibrating with excitement. “Where are we going, boss?” 

“Upper east side,” he said, and Malcolm’s joyful expression waivered. 

Of course, Dani thought, he might actually know the person. 

“Any details?” JT asked pushing back from his desk.

“Other than the family is already a nightmare, no.” Gil clenched his jaw. “I half expect to see their lawyers there when we get there.”

“Perfect,” JT grumbled, eying Bright as if he were somehow responsible for just being in that circle.

Dani hated that she thought the same, if even only for a second.

XXX

Things didn’t get much better once they were there. She had driven with JT and Bright was with Gil so she hadn’t had the chance to ask him what had brightened his day, no pun intended. Bright stood, frozen, in front of their destination in the UES’s “power corner,” his face paler than usual.

“You okay, Bright?” Dani nudged his arm.

“Gil, is our victim a Catherwood?” he asked, ignoring her question.

“Yeah. You know them, kid?”

“Then I’m not okay, Dani. Nigella Catherwood was one of my mother’s friends before it all happened and one of her worst nightmares afterwards. I used to play with her daughter, Morgana, all the time until then. Nigella told my mother that for the sake of future victims, she should drown me and my sister like rats in a tub.” Bright’s jaw muscles twitched as he fought back obvious emotion.

“Harsh,” JT shook his head.

Dani gave Bright’s arm a little comforting squeeze. She couldn’t imagine what hearing that would do to a boy. “Any chance she knows what you look like these days?”

“I don’t know. You and I crashing the Taylor wedding made a lot of headlines,” he replied.

JT snorted. “No kidding. Imagine Tally and my surprise as we were watching the telecast and there’s Bright doing his crazy man routine. Tally kept a few of the articles that came out the next day.”

“So yeah, she might know it’s me, provided it’s not Nigella who’s dead,” he replied in a tone that said ‘if there’s any justice, it’s her.’

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it but keep as low a profile as you can, kid,” Gil said. 

Bright nodded but he also went in first past a doorman who looked more like an armed guard. Gil rolled his eyes and followed with Dani and JT in his wake. Dani blinked when she saw Malcolm walk up to a man in a red uniform. Was there really an elevator man? Bright waited for Gil to take the lead but there was a strange expression on his face. 

“You can’t go up this elevator, sir. You have to take the service elevator.” The man sniffed and pointed down the hall.

Next to her, Dani heard JT grunt. Even Gil looked stunned but Bright didn’t. He brushed past the man in the uniform and led the way to the unguarded elevator. 

“I’ve never been made to feel like the help before,” JT grumbled.

“You’re going to get a lot of that here,” Bright replied. “The Catherwoods are like the Miltons, old money and they _act_ like it.”

“I’m getting a better appreciation of you right now. You’ve never tossed your wealth in our faces,” JT said as the doors slid open, and they piled into the padded walled elevator box. “We probably should have fought him harder.”

“It’s just easier to not hassle him for doing his job.” Bright shrugged. “They’ll be more cooperative if…” He let it trail off.

“If we know our place?” JT growled, glaring at Bright.

Bright made a face, staring at his shoes, his highly expensive shoes. “I was trying hard not to say that.”

“Sounds like they’re lovely people,” Dani said. 

“You’re going to run into a wall of entitlement unless they’ve changed since I was a kid.” He dragged his fingers through his hair. “And if I ever act like this, kick me.”

“Right in the business,” Dani promised him, and Gil gave her the eye.

It didn’t take much to find out where they needed to be. The hallway amazed her. Ivory walls with brass curlicue decorations polished so highly it gleamed like sunlight but at the end of it several uniformed officers stood outside and Edrisa was trying to get past them with her team. Gil hurried down the hall and they followed suit. The officers parted like the sea, letting them inside. The foyer had the same level of polish only it was dark wood that gleamed. A man in a suit as expensive as any Dani had ever seen on Bright stood there, an arm around a weeping woman in her late fifties but trying hard to look younger. She had to be Nigella Catherwood.

Bright hung back with Dani and JT as Gil took the lead. He wasn’t making eye contact with anyone but Dani couldn’t tell if that was because he was trying not to be noticed or if he was scanning for clues or both. 

“Mrs. Catherwood isn’t able to speak to you, Detective Arroyo,” the man was saying, dragging Dani’s attention that direction. “I’ll be happy to arrange a time for you to talk to my client once she’s able to process her grief. You’ll find Morgana through there and in her bedroom.”

Next to her, Bright flinched and Dani gently touched his arm, letting him know she was there for him because even though he hadn’t been in contact with them for years, he obviously remembered Morgana as a friend. She hated he was hurting and that Gil was right about the lawyer. Gil wasted no time arguing, waving for Edrisa and the rest of them to follow. 

Bright sidled up to Edrisa and asked, “Did they stop you?”

“Yes,” she replied so terse it took Dani by surprise. Edrisa not flirting with Bright sent up a warning flare. 

“I wonder what they’re hiding,” he mumbled.

Dani wondered as well. That certainly wasn’t normal. Nothing about this place was normal, not in her world. The excesses of wealth were everywhere. The place looked like a museum, not a home. She had thought the same of Bright’s family home but even in the Milton estate she could tell Jessica Whitly lived there. This place, it had to be inhabited by ghosts. Its somber, museum-quality atmosphere weighed on her, and she was just walking through. She couldn’t imagine making a home here, as beautiful as it was.

She nearly plowed into Bright’s back as he stopped in the doorway. Dani nudged him aside so she and JT could get in. Morgana Catherwood rested on her bed, which was made. Other than she was naked and her throat gaped open, she seemed almost relaxed, at rest with her arms tucked alongside her. Her knees were scraped and her hair wet. Damn, someone had washed her, probably a forensic countermeasure.

“Something’s wrong here.” Malcolm edged closer to the bed and Gil caught him by the jacket, tugging him back before Edrisa could yell at him to step away or put her hands on him again, forcing Gil to break them up like he had in the past. 

“There’s not enough blood,” Gil said.

“And the bed shows no signs of struggling. She couldn’t have been killed there,” Dani said.

Bright opened his mouth but before he could say anything there was a disturbance in the hall: Catherwood’s lawyer begging Mrs. Catherwood to not come down the hallway. Bright scooted out of the room like he was on fire. Dani pointed after him. “Gil, can we look elsewhere or is this going to be a problem?” Dani knew it shouldn’t be. They didn’t need a warrant to search a crime scene but sometimes things went out the window when dealing with the rich.

“It won’t be. See what Bright’s up to,” Gil said. “We’ve got this.”

What Bright was up to was disappearing down the hall and around a corner so she followed him. It was entirely possible he was hiding from Catherwood. From what little he’d told her, she couldn’t blame him. The hallway ended in a set of stairs going up to a door. Bright had to have gone through it so she trailed after him. She blinked, half blinded, when the door led her to a roof-top garden and the sunlight pouring down on it. He had to know someone was behind him, probably thought it was her but he didn’t turn. Now she was sure he was scanning for evidence as he slowly strolled through the garden, eyes on the ground. She hoped she wouldn’t have to keep him from accidentally walking off the edge given how little attention he was paying to what was in front of him.

“Bright, what are you thinking?” she called, going a different direction through the plants.

“Only what we’ve said. There’s no way she was killed in the bedroom. I remembered as kids Morgana loved to play up here. It used to give my mother a heart attack. She was sure I’d fall to my death.” He glanced over to her, half hidden behind a potted tree.

Dani kept her thought of ‘she probably should have worried’ to herself, given how accident prone Bright was. “If someone killed her out here…no scratch that. Someone had full access to this place, someone she knew and trusted because you probably couldn’t get past the guards easily.”

“No, her killer was someone who Morgana knew well and her mother knows it. That’s why her lawyer beat us here,” he said so bitterly Dani was reminded of something Gil had said on their first case. Malcolm was a cop at heart, one of them and that seemed to prove it.

“She hurt you badly,” Dani said, following the path further away from him.

He sighed heavily. “I wasn’t even eleven when I heard her say I should be killed to save future victims. I thought Nigella was going to try to do it. It left a scar.”

“I can’t imagine,” she replied. Dani didn’t want to know how something like that felt like. She glanced back to the door, wondering if she should go back inside or continue with the garden. She decided to stay. She didn’t know what would be made of it if the profiler was the one to discover the scene alone instead of one of the detectives. 

“Dani, over here!” he called, and she jogged through the pathway to a container of enthusiastic pansies, zinnias and petunias which seemed almost too commonplace for the Catherwoods. The flowers were crushed and a dark spray of blood coated the decorations on the container. A smear of blood led the way into a shrub that bore broken limbs.

“You found where it happened,” she said, reaching out to tug him back but realized he wasn’t standing in blood. Of course not. He was ex-FBI, and they often forgot that. He knew how to handle himself at a crime scene though he did like to push the boundaries.

“We need to tell Gil and get Edrisa’s team up here.”

Dani nodded. “You’d better come with me. No one else seems to be up here so it should be okay to leave it.”

He didn’t argue with her but fell uncharacteristically quiet. In that moment Dani hated Nigella Catherwood even though she barely knew her and she was the victim’s mother. She knew this strange silence was because Malcolm was lost in his head, in that terrible theater he’d told her about, reliving the pain that woman caused him when he was a child. Gil and JT were checking over the bathroom with a crime scene tech, probably thinking Morgana could have been washed clean.

“Gil, we found the crime scene. It’s up on the roof in the garden,” Dani said.

“Great. We’ll get the team up there,” he said as Nigella Catherwood came up the hall.

She picked up speed, her face going red. She stabbed a finger at Malcolm. “It _is_ you. I thought I recognized you and her from the wedding.” She swung her hand Dani’s direction. “I don’t want this monster in my home.”

Dani scowled, “Hey, that’s not-”

Gil held up his hand, silencing her. “Mr. Bright is part of my team, Mrs. Catherwood.”

“That’s not his name,” she growled, rearing back, affronted that Gil had spoken up to her. “In case you don’t know that he’s a Whitly. I want him out of here.”

“It _is_ his name now, and he’s my profiler. If you want the best chance of finding your daughter’s killer, I need Malcolm Bright here and working this case,” Gil replied, his voice tight. Dani knew he was biting back his own temper.

“If he’s a help, it’s because killing is in his nature.” Catherwood leveled a glare at Bright so hot Dani was shocked he didn’t spontaneously combust. “He can’t be here. I refuse to have it.”

“It’s fine, Gil.”

“It’s not,” Dani protested. 

“I’ll go back to the precinct.” Malcolm tucked his hands into his pockets and walked away. “I am sorry about Morgana, Mrs. Catherwood, whether you believe that or not.”

“Go!” Catherwood took a step toward him, hand back as if ready to slap him.

Dani wanted to add to the murder count. Instead, she led her teammates and some of the crime scene techs to the roof top garden. She’d make sure Bright got as many photographs as possible of the scene. He would have to work from that because she knew he might have left the home but he’d never leave the case.


	2. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again Catherwood's attitudes are ugly and not shared here.

Chapter Two

It was hours before Dani made it back to the precinct. She wasn’t surprised to see Malcolm at his desk, obviously exhausted but still working on something. His eyes appeared sunken and the skin around them bruised. Somehow, he held himself in a way that presented him as smaller than he actually was. A strange pang stung her from behind her ribs. She had forgotten how painful friendship could be. She hadn’t lied about being nearly as out of practice with it as he was.

He didn’t seem to notice her. He tossed his empty coffee cup in the trash after desperately trying to suck the last few droplets out of it. He glanced at his phone as if expecting it to ring. With a soft sigh, she went into the break room after a detour into Gil’s office. She knew he wouldn’t mind if she borrowed one of his mugs, just not his prized Yankees one. She found a clean mug that said _half human, half coffee_ that she was pretty sure Jackie had gotten him, took it and got her own off the desk. She filled them both and sweetened Bright’s to hummingbird level because the man had a sweet tooth like none she had seen before. Even his own mother assumed he survived on candy which had amused Dani who knew how addicted he was to suckers.

Bright jumped when she put the cup down on his desk. He blinked at her. 

“You okay, Bright?”

He rubbed his eyes. “I’ve been better. Thanks for the coffee.”

“I saw you trying to dog lick the dregs out of your cup.” She grinned and pulled a chair over to his desk. Dani flopped down on it, bone tired, and knew she would be more exhausted soon. That’s how the first few days of a case always went. 

He saluted her with the cup she’d given him, took a sip and asked, “How horrible was Catherwood after I left?”

“Well, if I didn’t know you better, you murdered her daughter after somehow miracleing your way past the doormen, and then invited yourself in to solve the case. I do not envy Gil having to talk her down.”

Malcolm snorted. “She was never my favorite of Mother’s friends but Morgana…she was fun but that was many years ago.”

“Still. I’m sorry about your friend.” She patted his shoulder. 

“Thanks.”

“And I nearly chucked her mother off the roof after about the third time she insinuated you were a killer and that JT and I were genetically incapable of being smart enough to solve a case so Gil sent me back here.” She shrugged, trying not to show how wound up Catherwood’s casual racism had infuriated her. 

He grinned weakly. “Justifiable homicide if ever there was one.”

Nodding, Dani took out her phone. “I have crime scene photos for you to look at.”

“Thanks. Also, I’m glad you’re here because I called Ainsley. She wasn’t quite as ostracized as the rest of us, and she knew a few of Morgana’s friends. One of them wanted to talk to us immediately. I’m waiting on her now but I know I’m not supposed to be interviewing anyone on my own.”

Dani nodded. He was certainly capable but legally he was just a consultant. “I’ll handle that. You can sit in. When will she be here?”

“Soon I hope.” 

“While we’re waiting can I ask a question?”

“Always.”

“Until Catherwood, you seemed really happy, and it was nice to see. So, what’s going right?” Dani smiled around the lip of her coffee cup.

“Eve’s back in my life.” He beamed, his eyes sparkling. “So, yes, I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. It feels _good_.”

For a moment, Dani had no idea what to say. His response caught her flat-footed. Of all the things she had imagined that buoyed his spirits, having a girlfriend never even entered her mind, not since she knew he didn’t make it past the first date. He thought he was broken. He didn’t have friends outside of the team. Well, Vijay but that dude had been weird, and she hadn’t thought he was much of a friend, not that she’d tell Bright that. He clung to the ideal of friendship Vijay represented, the person who shared the weird kid table with him, the other bad dad kid. She had no doubt Malcolm felt their friendship more deeply than Vijay had. Having a rich drug dealer dad had a certain dangerous mystique. Having a serial killer dad was a whole other beast. “I thought she left after the bar,” she said and winced. She knew Eve had come back that night but left again but only because Malcolm had told JT and JT told her. It wasn’t really cool that they talked about Malcolm behind his back but it was more because they were worried about his state of mind. It was a way of keep track of him to be sure he was okay. 

Malcolm shrugged, unoffended by the fact she knew that. “We talked it out. Eve’s okay with it now.” He sighed softly, happily. “It’s the start of something.”

And that caused a strange sensation she couldn’t put her finger on to rise up from her gut. Dani shook her head. He really had to be out of practice with friends since he didn’t seem to realize that maybe this wasn’t a topic to bring up to another lady friend. Or maybe she was the one equally out of practice with friends. If that’s all they were, she shouldn’t be bothered by this turn of events. “Okay, that’s great.”

He nodded, smiling so wide and open it made her want to mirror it. The moment was broken when one of the uniformed officers approached the desk. Behind her was someone Dani knew had to be the woman who was here to talk to Bright. Everything about her screamed wealth and privilege in a way that she didn’t feel with Bright or even his sister.

“Mr. Bright, Ms. Zeelen says she’s here to see you,” she said.

Bright stood up as did Dani. “Yes, thank you,” he said. 

“Maybe we should sit in the break room,” Dani said, knowing putting Ms. Zeelen in an interrogation room would be the wrong move. Zeelan’s silvery gray eyes flicked to Dani and back to Bright again. They were a rare wintery gray, almost spooky.

“That sounds good. If you don’t mind.” Bright beckoned for her to follow them.

“Do you remember me, Malcolm?” she asked, clicking after them on heels so high Dani didn’t know how she walked in them. She had thought that in the few times she had spent time with Bright’s mother who made heels look effortless.

He nodded. “You’re hard to forget, Vanessa.” He smiled and pulled a chair out for her to sit at the stained and scarred table that could use a good scrubbing. Coffee rings dotted it. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen you or Morgana.”

At Catherwood’s name, Vanessa’s lips trembled. She glanced down at the table, tapping it nervously with one plum-hued nail.

“This is Detective Dani Powell.” He swept a hand to Dani. “She’s trying to find out who hurt Morgana. Hopefully you’ll be able to answer some of our questions. You told my sister you had something to tell me.”

Vanessa bobbed her head. “I knew if I waited, they’d start circling the wagons. Mrs. Catherwood and Morgana had been at odds for months. Morgana was about to move out.”

“What was the conflict about?” Dani asked.

“She hated who Morgana was seeing.” Vanessa steeled her jaw. “That’s what you needed to know before they start putting on pressure to shut us up.”

“I understand that. Her mother is a formidable woman,” Bright said. Dani didn’t know why Morgana or Zeelan would obey this woman, other than it was easier to go along and shut her up than to stand up to her verbal abuse.

Vanessa narrowed her eyes. “She’s a bitch, Malcolm. You can say it. I won’t tell.” She chuckled mirthlessly. 

“What can you tell us about who Morgana was seeing?” Dani asked.

“Morgana was in love with a woman, and her mother about hit the roof.”

“So, she’s not okay with her daughter being a lesbian,” Dani said.

Vanessa shrugged. “She alternates between ‘it’s a phase’ and ‘she’s doing this to get back at me.’ But that isn’t the worst part of Morgana’s girlfriend to her.”

“What is?” Malcolm prompted.

“Allison is a physical therapist.”

Dani shot her a quizzical look. “How is that bad?”

“She’s not of our class,” Malcolm said, and Dani stared at him for a second, shocked that he said it. She knew it wasn’t how he felt but he was so familiar with the concept that it sprang instantly to mind for him. “Catherwood is one of the most classist person in our circle.”

“And it burns her that no matter what your father did, the Miltons are still heads and shoulders above the Catherwoods. You’ve been here in New York since the beginning. You should hear how she complains to my mother any time your mother is holding a charity event or shows up at one.” Vanessa rolled her eyes. “So, you can only imagine how she felt about her daughter dating someone who isn’t in the one percent.”

“I can definitely imagine it,” Malcolm assured her, rolling his eyes, and Dani had a pretty good idea herself. “Do you know Allison’s last name?”

“Stern, and that was another problem for Nigella. It’s not just that Allison is a woman but she’s also a middle class Jewish lesbian. You know what Mrs. Catherwood is like.” Vanessa grimaced. “I’ll write down where Allison works for you.” 

“Thank you. Do you think that Allison had anything to do with Morgana ending up dead?” Dani asked and Vanessa violently shook her head.

“Absolutely not. I know that things weren’t happy at home. Morgana was planning to move out and live with Allison. Her mother was on a rampage about that. Morgana was nearly a hundred percent moved out of her mother’s place and was definitely done with being there.”

“And her father?” Dani asked.

“He died a few years back,” Bright supplied.

“There are rumors about who Mrs. Catherwood is seeing now but since I don’t know one way or the other, I’d rather not say much about that. You know how rumors are, Malcolm. There’s plenty enough of them about you,” Vanessa said, and his shoulders slumped. “You might need to know this. Morgana was having issues with her cousin, Zach.”

“What kind of trouble?” Dani asked.

“I wish I knew. She just said he was constantly after her, bothering her. I hope Allison can tell you more. That’s about all I know. I wanted to get it out there before the bullying starts.”

Dani wanted to ask why she cared but from the look on Bright’s face, it was a legitimate concern. She didn’t know exactly what Catherwood would do but Dani was sure she wouldn’t like the answer. She pressed Vanessa for more but got little that was useful. 

“Thank you for coming in, Ms. Zeelan. We really appreciate it,” Dani said.

Bright stood up and walked Vanessa to the door. “We do appreciate it,” he said.

“I hope it helps. I can’t imagine she’s happy you’re on the case. She was cackling like a Halloween witch when you were thrown out of the FBI.” Vanessa made a face, and Bright flinched.

“I didn’t realize that it was a source of gossip.” He sighed. “I was sure most people had forgotten me.”

“Not when the gossip is good.” She smiled wryly.

“She threw me out of the house tonight so I’m sure the gossip will be great.” Malcolm couldn’t hide the bitterness.

“No doubt. If I think of anything more, I’ll call.”

“Please do.”

Dani watched her go but more of her attention was on how diminished Bright’s joy seemed. She couldn’t blame him. No one liked to be the center of malicious gossip. “You okay, Bright?” she asked knowing he wasn’t, knowing he’d lie.

“I’m fine.”

“Want to come with me to talk to Allison Stern or do you need to go somewhere with Eve?” Dani scowled, hating that she brought her up but wasn’t sure why.

He shook his head. “I already let her know it was going to be a late night. We should talk to Allison before she hears this on the news or from friends or worse, Nigella calls and tries to bully her into silence.”

“My thought exactly,” Dani said. It was late and if Allison didn’t already know, they were about to ruin her night but better to hear it from them. She hated death notifications, one of the worst parts of her job. “Call Gil and report this. I’ll get the keys.” 

He didn’t argue. At least Gil would know where Bright was for once. Dani hoped this would shed some light on the case. It was going to get ugly.


	3. A Breakfast Ruined

Chapter Three

Dani yawned until her jaw ached as she staggered into the morgue. All of them were running on fumes. How did Bright do this all the time? No wonder he could be so bizarre. Of course, she was no stranger to little sleep. No one in major crimes was. They had talked to Allison, which had been enlightening. She hadn’t had time to really bring Gil up to date yet. He was busy putting out the political fires. She figured that Bright might have to sit this one out by the end of it but Gil wouldn’t pull the trigger on that until he was forced to. She knew that he and JT had spent the night taking Catherwood’s abuse. JT had stomped into the break room in such a bad mood that neither she nor Bright had been tempted to talk to him.

Dani had gotten distracted in writing up what Allison Stern had told them for the murder book when a well-dressed woman with long blonde hair had sauntered in. She carried a box of something and a cardboard holder bearing two large cups of coffee. Dani started to get up to intercept her when Malcolm met her. He took the box from her after giving her a kiss. So that was his Eve. Dani narrowed her eyes as she studied the other woman. The wrap dress she wore clung to her. Was that cashmere? How much would that cost? Did she come here to flaunt it or did she even think about it?

“Brought you breakfast.” Eve smiled at him, and Dani wanted to shout he doesn’t eat much.

To her shock, he took the coffee and sat down with Eve at his desk and took a donut out of the box, eating it with gusto she had never seen him ever attack food with. What made this woman special and why in the hell was she wasting time thinking about it? Dani had work to do but it got under her skin and she didn’t know why. She knew Eve was a lawyer. Bright had told her that on the drive last night. He’d been almost chirpy about it, and Dani had let it go because it was pulling him out of the funk Catherwood had put him in. It was then she realized Mrs. Whitly was right. She was Bright’s best friend, the person he confided things in and at the moment, she wished he’d go tell JT about the woman. After all, JT had met Eve before. She remembered him telling her about them showing up in the bar and Bright had been himself, making her cry and flee. Dani wondered what had changed other than ‘they talked it out.’

Gil poked his head out of his office. “Dani, can you go see if you can light a fire under Edrisa? I know she has other cases but the Commissioner wants Morgana’s autopsy done.”

“Of course.” Dani cast a backwards glance at Bright as she left, expecting him to follow. He rarely missed a chance to get his fingers on the autopsy report but not this time. Maybe it was because he knew Morgana, which Dani couldn’t blame him for not wanting to know all the intimate details of her death. Maybe it was Eve and that wormed into her brain as something unusual and unwanted.

She found Edrisa still working over Morgana’s body. Dani thumped on the door to get her attention and not startle her while she had a scalpel in hand. For a moment, Dani wondered why Bright’s father hadn’t become a medical examiner if he liked dissecting humans. He could have done that to his heart’s content legally. _Probably not nearly as fun if they’re not alive and terrified_. Dani sighed. Dr. Whitly had been a puzzle. He’d been charming, even when he’d been insinuating that she was sleeping with his son. If she hadn’t known what he was, she’d have liked him. No wonder Bright was so messed up. It would have been easier, maybe, had his father been a monster at home. Bright would have been relieved to have him gone but this was different. What was even more different was her letting Bright take up so much real estate in her head. She was too tired for any of this.

“Sorry, Edrisa, but Gil sent me to see if you’re done,” she said, apologetically, noticing Edrisa was looking behind her, probably hoping to see Bright. “The upper brass is giving him heat.”

Edrisa’s shoulders slumped. “I expected that. I’m nearly done. It’s not exactly difficult to figure out the cause of death.” She gestured to the gash in Morgana’s neck. “The more interesting thing is why and how someone brought her down to her room, washed her up and put her in the bed.”

“I’m assuming that might have been a forensic countermeasure,” Dani said.

Edrisa cocked a finger at her. “And you’d be right especially if you take into consideration someone ran vinegar through her vagina.”

Dani winced, shuddering. “So, she was raped.”

Edrisa nodded. “There are contusions that would suggest that, and I’m afraid what’s left of the semen is going to be ruined by the acidity of the vinegar.” She scowled. “I enjoy forensic forums but they can give the wrong people the right ideas.”

“Unfortunately. Is there anything at all promising?”

“I need a little more time to really examine the neck wound. We scraped her nails but it’s still too early to know if it’ll yield anything. You’re probably going to need Bright to look at this. It might come down to why did they pose her like they did.”

“Or who could get into that apartment in the first place,” Dani mused.

“It was fantastic, wasn’t it?” Edrisa’s expression became dreamy and Dani didn’t blame her. “On the whole, I’m content with my life but every once in a while, I have to wonder what it might be like to live like that.”

Dani shrugged, thinking Bright could be, should be, living like that. That he was here doing what he did highlighted the demons that drove him. She couldn’t be happy that he was haunted but Dani was glad he was in her life, even more glad to Gil insisted she and JT give Bright a chance. She made a face. Why was he so in her thoughts today? And why was there that little bubble of resentment dancing around in her mind when she remembered he didn’t follow her because of his new relationship? It was the first time she’d seen him not do his job.

“Are you okay, detective?”

Dani jumped, realizing Edrisa had closed the distance between them and wore a concerned look. “Fine, sorry, was just thinking that it’s not usual for Bright to blow off the autopsy report, and I’m oddly annoyed about it because he’s having breakfast with his new girlfriend.” The moment she blurted that out, Dani regretted it. She knew how Edrisa crushed on Bright, and sure enough Edrisa’s expression crumbled.

“Ah,” was all she said for several long moments. “That would explain why he wasn’t here.” Edrisa cocked her head, peering at Dani through her thick glasses. “I’m not so sure it’s an odd annoyance. You’re used to him being with you now, and maybe you’re a little jealous that someone else has his attention.” She rolled her shoulders. “Or maybe that’s just me.”

Dani scowled, not so much because of what Edrisa had said but rather she might be right. Dani didn’t like that. She expected better of herself. “I’ve had happier thoughts. All right, I’ll let Gil know about the attempt at a clean-up.”

“And I’ll call the moment we know anything about the fingernail scrapings and if we get anything from the vaginal swabs in spite of the attempt to destroy evidence.” Edrisa stretched her back. “I’m not sure the neck wound is going to tell me too much. It looks like a steak knife but I need a few more moments with it.”

“We brought back all the kitchen knives right?” Dani asked.

Edrisa nodded. “Mrs. Catherwood pitched a fit about it, like we were out to steal the family silver. My team is looking the set over now. I know it’s not going to make anyone pressuring Lieutenant Arroyo happy but these things take time. The science has its own pace. The PCR can’t be rushed.”

“I know. Gil knows.” Dani sighed. “They don’t want to listen.”

“I guess that’s what all that money does. That’s not a pretty look.” Edrisa made the face she usually reserved for JT when he bagged on her flirting with Bright. “I’m glad Bright isn’t like that.”

“On that we agree. He’s never pulled the rich entitled dude card on us,” Dani said, thinking except that one time when he offered his loft but that had been in the line of duty, not him being a snooty bastard. 

“He’s good people, no matter what anyone thinks.”

Dani smiled. “I know.” She left Edrisa there, ready to defend Bright at a moment’s notice. She almost wished she could have unleashed Edrisa on Colette Swanson and her bunch when they were in town. Dani doubted Swanson would have been swayed by Edrisa’s sunny view of Bright but it would have been somehow satisfying to watch the FBI agent’s annoyance.

Dani returned to Gil’s office, passed along what little she knew and then went back to her desk. Bright was alone now but had three donuts sitting on a napkin. He smiled as she sat down at her desk to get started on the paperwork but it faltered as he read something on her face.

“Gil giving you a hard time?” He cast a glance back at Gil’s office.

“More like the Brass is giving him a hard time. Edrisa has a detail you might be interested in.”

“Oh?” Bright gestured to the donuts. “Eve brought some for everyone. Chocolate, espresso and a lemon.”

“You want the lemon don’t you?” Dani grinned, remembering his rant about lemon Jell-O. 

“Maybe. The espresso sounds pretty good too.” 

Dani took the chocolate. “Thanks. So, Edrisa said someone ran vinegar through Morgana’s vagina, and I’m sorry to have to tell you that.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay, Dani. We really weren’t friends any more, not for twenty years. The fond memories I have of her only make me want to get to the bottom of this faster. So, she was raped.”

“Yeah, Edrisa seemed fairly sure of it.” 

Bright made a face, “We’re going to be looking for someone close enough to her to get into the apartment.”

“A worker?” Dani suggested.

“It’s possible but I think this was a crime of opportunity or rage. It was _foolish_ to kill her in a place where only a handful of people have access. I doubt the rape was planned because anyone with any sense of survival knows about DNA.”

“If it was planned, he’d have brought a condom.”

He nodded. “This is about rage.”

“Most rapes are, rage and power,” she countered, pulling off a piece of dough.

“Exactly, so he’s been angry with Morgana for some reason. Something on that roof top set him off. When he was done, he had a murder and rape to hide.”

“Hey, Bright,” JT called, interrupting his musings. Bright twisted around, and offered JT the lemon donut. Accepting it, JT continued, “When was the last time you had anything to do with Morgana?”

“What? You were ten?” Dani asked.

“For play dates, yes. But we’d see each other at some of the charity functions that Mother would drag me to. I didn’t do more than say hello. I can’t imagine we’ve said more than two or three sentences to each other at any one of these events. Why?” Malcolm narrowed his eyes, and Dani could imagine what he was thinking. Well, she didn’t have to imagine she had heard some of what Catherwood had said and it probably hadn’t gotten any better once she left.

JT shot him a look. 

Bright’s eyes darkened with a rage she was unaccustomed to seeing in him. “Did she outright accuse me?”

JT rolled his shoulders. “Close enough. I’m sure Gil is hearing about it.”

“Well, if it comes down to it, I have an alibi for all of last night but I’d rather not waste the time.” Bright scowled and Dani didn’t want details about his alibi, though the thought of ‘had he found someone who was okay sleeping next to a restrained man’ ran through her mind.

“You’re not going to get an argument from me. So, what did you two get from Morgana’s lover?” 

Before Dani could answer, Gil stepped out of his office and waved them all in. She perched on the table while JT flopped down on the couch looking as tired as she felt. He took a big bite of the donut. Bright, naturally, hovered around, too full of nervous energy to settle.

“Are they still giving you problems because of me?” Malcolm asked. 

Gil held up a hand. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’ll keep away from Catherwood,” Malcolm said, and Dani actually believed him. She knew he had a bad habit of saying one thing and doing another but he seemed to mean this. He was hopefully thinking of the grief Gil was catching. 

Gil nodded. “Tell me about Stern.”

Bright looked to Dani. She shrugged. “It was pretty productive, once we were able to calm her down. She seemed honestly shocked by the news and very broken up.”

“I agree. I think she had no idea that Morgana was dead but…” Bright trailed off. “she seemed somehow not entirely surprised by that.”

“That’s what I got too,” Dani said. “She laid out in no uncertain terms that Morgana’s mother had been hounding Morgana to leave her, that she thought her lesbianism was a cry for attention. She was constantly on Morgana about embarrassing the family.”

“To her credit, Morgana didn’t care what her mother thought or that’s how Allison saw things. She backed up what Zeelan told us,” Malcolm roosted for a second against the arm of the couch. “that the two of them were in the process of moving in together, that Morgana planned to sever all ties to her mother. But I think there was something else to that that Allison didn’t tell us. I’m not sure what and it could just have been the shock and grief.”

“Could she have done it?” JT asked. “I mean when you have that much money, can you go to having a lot less?”

Malcolm splayed his hands. “I honestly don’t know. I would like to say yes but in a disclosure that surprises no one in this room, Mother pays a lot of my bills. I don’t ask her to but she’s embarrassed about how little I make.” His cheeks pinked up, and Dani made a face. “And Morgana had a trust from her grandfather. Her mother couldn’t touch that so she still would have plenty of money.”

“I can see that making overbearing mama furious,” JT said.

“We don’t think her mother did this though,” Gil said. “Not with the rape component.”

“No, but Nigella is friendly with her lawyer. He’s in the apartment a lot and Allison said Morgana didn’t get along with him much either. He was looking into breaking the trust,” Dani said. “They fought a lot. Bright said this could have been rage gone wild because it’s not anyone’s best bet to kill her in a place where only a few people had access.”

“Given how rude he was to us, I wouldn’t mind him being guilty,” JT grumbled, and Dani felt that. He’d been rude to her too when he hadn’t been eye banging her. It had taken a lot of will power not to punch him out along with Catherwood.

“And then there’s Zack,” Bright said, pushing off the couch arm to start orbiting the office again, his hand beginning to shake. 

“Zack?”

“Zachary Brake, Morgana’s cousin and…” Bright grimaced, clenching his hands into tight fists. “I’m trying to figure out what to call him that doesn’t involve a lot of expletives.” 

“You know him too.” JT eyed him.

Bright ran his hands through his hair. “We were in boarding school together. He was a year ahead of me. He gave me this when he got a bunch of his friends to, and I quote, teach me a lesson.” He tapped the scar above his upper lip, a small pale slash in his scruff. 

“Which was?” JT prodded.

“Don’t be the son of a serial killer, I think. All I know was it involved a lot of fists and feet to the face once I was down.” Malcolm clenched his shaking hand a few times to still it. “He’s pretentious, arrogant and a bully. Even when we were kids, Morgana was afraid of him.” 

“Can we assume that he got away with kicking your butt, no punishment involved?” JT asked.

“They tried to put the blame on Malcolm,” Gil said, angry enough to make Dani jump. It wasn’t often she saw her boss and mentor lose his temper and knew enough to take note of it. “Do you think he could have had anything to do with this?”

“I think he’d be able to get inside the apartment without trouble. He belongs there. No one would have stopped him or even thought anything about it, unless for some reason Catherwood had him banned.”

“I’ll check on that,” Gil replied, “Though I suppose we should couch it as was anyone banned from the premises.” 

“I’ll look into where he was,” Dani said. “But do you really think he could rape his own cousin?”

“Let me put it this way, even in school, during our teen years, he claimed there is no such thing as a lesbian. All they needed was the right man, with the idea that he was naturally the right man.” Bright curled his lip at the memory.

Dani mirrored the gesture. “Charming fellow.”

“Definitely. Dani and I did verify that Allison went home at nine last night and didn’t leave again at least not out the front door.”

“The building manager says every stairwell, elevator and doorway is monitored,” Dani added, directing it to Gil and JT. “I was about to start in on those recordings to be sure she didn’t leave, once I finish typing up the Stern report.”

“What about the security tapes on the apartment?” Bright stifled a yawn. “Let me guess, their very important clients’ privacy needs to be respected.”

Gil nodded. “We’re waiting on the warrant. We’ll get it but until then…” He shrugged. “We should talk to Zach. If we bring him down here, he’ll lawyer up. Do you think he’d see us if we went to his place?”

“I say try. Normally, I’d say take me but if Nigella is on a rampage, let’s keep that in reserve,” Malcolm replied. “He might be arrogant enough to think he’d play you. He’d automatically assume you’re dumber than him. Take JT. Zach likes to be the alpha male. He might see you two as a challenge, it might make him talkative if he feels the need to try and dominate you.”

“And we should let him?” JT glowered. 

“Don’t make it easy for him but you might have to let him win to get him to talk.” Malcolm sighed. “If he’ll even meet with you. I wouldn’t get too hopeful. I wish I could come with you. He’d love to take another run at me.”

“And normally I’d say we get to decide who’s involved but with their money and political clout, it’s probably best not to antagonize them, at least not yet,” Gil said.

“I’ll stay here and help Dani. But if he does talk to you, drop my name in there, see if it gets a reaction.”

“I’ll be looking forward to that because I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten you,” JT said. 

“Let’s see if we can catch him home now,” Gil said. “Call me if Edrisa has an update on her report or if you two find anything.”

“Will do,” Dani said, clapping a hand on Bright’s shoulder. “Let’s get some more caffeine and get on the security footage.”

He complied without a word. Dani wished she felt as ready for this as she sounded. Footage review was inevitably both important and boring. She just hoped she didn’t fall asleep in the middle of it. She couldn’t help noticing Bright seemed less animated now. She wondered if he was thinking about this Zack jerk. Dani wished she could have gone instead of JT. She wanted to see what kind of person could kick a kid, inflicting the damage that left that scar. It had to have been bloody, and Malcolm had to have been frightened. She felt a rush of rage against someone she had never met on Bright’s behalf. Maybe it was better she had footage duty. Dani sighed softly, hoping they’d get lucky and Allison Stern never left her home, not that Dani could imagine her object-raping her lover or bringing someone with her that would have been capable of it. It was going to be a long day that caffeine couldn’t fix.


	4. Sturm und Drang

Chapter Four

Dani rubbed the back of her neck. She had gotten some sleep the night before. JT and Gil had gotten nowhere with Zachary Brake, and all she and Bright had managed to do was prove that Allison most likely never left her home because there were no signs of her on any of the security footage. She’d been jealous that, as a consultant, Bright was able to call it an early night, though he had hung in there right up to the point he’d be late for wherever he was going. He’d left to go out with Eve and was apparently sleeping in this morning.

Dani curled her lip, deciding she wasn’t going to waste a moment thinking about it because she had taken such an instant dislike to his new girlfriend. Edrisa was right. She was jealous and Dani hated everything about that. She saw with far too many crimes what jealousy did to people. Yes, it made her only human but she wanted to be happy for him because Bright deserved it. Her life had been hard. She had her trauma. Somehow it paled next to his. Besides, right now she had more important things to be worried about. Of course, she and the team were stalled until they got the final report from Edrisa’s crew because the Catherwoods had circled the wagons. They weren’t going to get anything there.

Hearing heels clicking on the flooring, Dani glanced up to see Mrs. Whitly striding through the bullpen. She stood up to greet her. “Hello, Mrs. Whitly. If you’re looking for Malcolm, he’s not in yet.”

Her sculpted eyebrows rose. “Good for him then. Is Gil here?”

Gil leaned out of his office door. “Jess?”

“We need to talk. I have something you might find useful.” She strolled into his office, and he shut the door behind her.

Dani blinked. She wondered what that was about but if it pertained to the case, Gil would fill her in later. Before she could make another call down to Edrisa to see if she had an ETA on the report, Malcolm showed up with a sizable white box. He set it on her desk. “What’s that?” She suspected it was what she hoped it was.

“Breakfast. Donuts, Irish Cream, fig-honey, Nutella and a couple others. I was craving something sweet. Are JT and Gil around? I have enough for everyone.” Bright smiled. “And Allison will be here shortly. She texted me.”

“Oh?” Dani flipped open the box and tugged out an Irish cream one. To her delight, it was stuffed with cream. Bright could bring donuts every day as wherever he got these was top notch. “And you picked great donuts.”

“Thanks.” He grabbed a Nutella one. “Allison said she found something we should see.”

“Okay. I think JT is in the break room, and your mom is in Gil’s office.”

His eyes widened. “What?”

“I have no idea. She said she might have something we could use.”

He cocked his head to the side, considering that. “Okay, that’s weird but she still does have a fairly extensive network of gossipy rich people.”

“Hey, did you bring enough for everyone?” JT asked, sailing back in with a cup of coffee.

“Help yourself.” 

“Donuts two days in a row, you’re all right.” JT smiled and grabbed one. He took a bit and gave it a strange look. “What is this?”

“Fig-honey.”

“And naturally you’d pick weird flavors.”

“I have Nutella, not weird.” Bright took a bite, and Nutella gushed out. He looked extremely happy about it, so much so, Dani smiled. She could get used to seeing him like that, maybe not enough to ask about how his night went but if a little bit of chocolate could bring a smile to his face, she’d consider getting him some. 

JT rested his hip against Dani’s desk. “Anything new on the report front?”

She shook her head. “Bright said Allison is coming in shortly to talk to us, and his mother is in with Gil and she said she had something for us.” 

JT’s gaze slipped to Bright who gave him a one-shouldered shrug. “I don’t know why she’s here either.”

Before JT could respond, Gil’s office door opened and Jessica sashayed out followed by Gil. She paused at the desk and smiled down at her son.

“Morning, Malcolm. You have chocolate all over your lips.” She smiled but for some reason Dani thought she might actually disapprove.

Malcolm traced his lips with the tip of his tongue. Dani nearly hated how endearing she found that. “As long as it’s not on my tie.” He shrugged with such nonchalance. He looked so good happy, and she regretted she wasn’t the one who made him feel this way. He ticked a finger on the box. “Would you like a donut, Mother? You might like the fig-honey ones.”

“I don’t know.”

“Is that a cinnamon-cayenne one?” Gil pointed to the one dusted with cinnamon sugar.

“I got a couple for you,” Malcolm replied.

“Cinnamon- cayenne?” Jessica raised her eyebrows at Gil.

“We can share it, if you want to try it,” Gil offered, and to everyone’s surprise, she took him up on it.

“Mother, Dani said you thought you had something for us.”

She nodded, plucking the fig-honey donut out and putting it on a napkin. “Mia’s sister, Rose, works for the Brakes.”

“Mia?” JT interrupted.

“She heads up the cleaning team at home,” she replied, and Dani tried to imagine what it was like to employ a team of cleaners because your house was so big. “Anyhow, Mia said that Zachary arrived home late and highly agitated. He went back out almost immediately with a small garbage bag, something Rose has never seen him do before. He’s not much on cleaning up after himself.”

“Is it too much to hope Rose told her sister where he went for the bag?” Dani asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. From what I can tell, the Brakes aren’t a good family to work for, which coincides with what I remember when I used to get invited there,” she replied. “Following him wouldn’t have ended well. It could be nothing but the timing…I thought it would be better to tell you than not.”

“We can add it to the growing pile of suspicion,” Dani replied. “I know that families can do terrible things to each other but it is hard to see a cousin doing this.”

“That’s because we want to see the good in people,” Malcolm said, finishing off the rest of his donut.

“And if he’s anything like his father, he doesn’t take no for an answer.” Jessica shuddered, and Gil rested a hand on her arm. 

Dani wondered if Brake senior had tried to force himself on Jessica or had actually done it. From the dimming of the blue in Malcolm’s eyes, she knew he was wondering the same. If it had happened, she must never have told her husband because Dani suspected The Surgeon wouldn’t have let that pass.

“And Zach was always awful to Malcolm. I have no trouble believing he could hurt someone. I know he already has.” Jessica patted Malcolm’s shoulder and then shook herself. Dani swore she could see her armor coming up. Jessica pointed to the donuts. “Should we take these back to your office and divide them up, Gil?”

“Of course.”

He guided her back into his office, each of them carrying a donut and his hand resting in the small of her back. Bright watched them, an expression of a puppy doing a physics problem on his face as he tried to make sense of what he’s seeing. Dani wondered a bit herself. 

“Really? A hot pepper donut?” JT broke the moment. “Don’t tell me you don’t pick weird flavors.”

Bright rolled his shoulders, his consternation fleeing. “Gil likes them. He has strange tastes.”

“We know, bro. He likes _you_.” JT smirked, and Malcolm snorted.

Dani allowed herself a faint grin. It was nice to see all of them working together and teasing each other. Just a few months ago she couldn’t have imagined this scenario. Before Dani could work Jessica’s revelation through her mind, Allison Stern was escorted into the bullpen. Dani stood to greet her. Allison carried a messenger bag, weighing heavy on her shoulder and another bag dangled from her other hand. Her swollen eyes spoke of how little sleep she had gotten.

“Detective Powell, Mr. Bright, I’ve brought some things I think you should have, especially since Nigella called me this morning demanding I turn it over to her.” She set the messenger bag on Dani’s desk. “I’m afraid she’ll destroy it.”

Dani gestured for her to sit, and Allison all but collapsed into the seat in front of Dani’s desk. “This is Detective Tarmel.” She nodded to JT. “He’s working with us on Morgana’s case. What did you bring us?”

“I got her will out of the file cabinet.” She opened one of the zippered compartments and turned the document over to Dani. “Her mother was trying to break Morgana’s trust and the trust doesn’t just go to her or Morgana’s cousins on her death. Morgana had the trust given over to someone else. Not me before you ask.”

“Who inherits the money?” Bright asked.

“A suicide prevention non-profit, the humane society and St Jude’s. Morgana wanted to do good with all that money. Nigella wanted the will but there was no way I was giving it to her. I figured it would be safer here. After she called and I told her no, Zach showed up at the apartment but I refused to buzz him in. I gathered everything up and came directly here.”

“Thank you. If you’re afraid of him, maybe you should go somewhere else for a few days. Did he threaten you?” Dani saw the fear in Allison’s eyes. 

“No, so I know you can’t put in an order of protection but I have some friends that Morgana’s family wouldn’t know about so I can stay with them. I have a bag packed.” She nudged the other bag with her toe.

“Smart.”

“Did you bring her computer?” JT pointed to the bag.

“Yes, and I put her password on a sticky note for you. Morgana kept a blog and I know she was documenting the pattern of harassment she was getting from her family. I don’t know if it has anything to do with who would kill her but some of your and Mr. Bright’s questions yesterday made me think about it. I was too upset last night to even think about the journal but when Nigella was so hot for me to turn over all of Morgana’s things….” Allison shuddered. “You have to understand, Morgana had most of her stuff already moved into our place, and she was on the lease. Nigella can’t force me to let her in, can she?”

“No, she can’t. If you want to return Morgana’s belongings, you may. We’ll put you in touch with someone who can help walk you through all the legalities of this,” Dani said as JT called down to the lab to get a tech sent up for the computer.

Allison let out a pent-up breath. “Thank you. I appreciate how kind you all have been. I know you have to ask the questions that you did last night but you were at least nice about it. You have my number. I think I just want to get to my friend’s place now and try to relax unless you have more questions for me.”

“I think we’ll need to look over her blog first, and then we might have more questions,” Dani said as Malcolm suddenly grabbed the bag off her desk and shot into Gil’s office without knocking. She hoped she had misread the messages going back and forth between Gil and Mrs. Whitly. She’d hate for Malcolm to run in on anything he might not want to see. For a second, she didn’t know what he was up to but then caught a glimpse of Mrs. Catherwood stalking into the station with a young man and three men in suits whom she assumed to be her legal team. Dani recognized one of the lawyers from the night of the murder, the one who was close to Catherwood. Dani assumed Bright was hiding the laptop, smart.

Allison braced herself, gripping Dani’s desk hard. Dani stood back up, turning to face Catherwood, trusting Bright informed Gil that she was in the building. Bright slipped back out of Gil’s office, shutting the door. A strange hardness flashed across his features, one Dani wasn’t used to seeing. She knew he had to have steel inside him but he always looked so…battered. 

Bright whispered in her ear, “The one in the grey Brioni suit is Morgana’s cousin, Zach.”

Dani nodded, filing that away.

“Detectives, if you’re done listening to her lies about my Morgana, make her return my property.” Catherwood stabbed a finger toward Allison.

“Mrs. Catherwood,” Dani said as Allison went pale, “what property would that be?”

“I want my daughter’s things, her computer, her jewelry. I need them back,” she said shrilly.

“Mrs. Catherwood, your daughter’s things are in her residence, which she shared with Ms. Stern. You can’t just go in and grab what you want.”

“That was _not_ her residence!”

“Her signature on the lease says otherwise,” Dani replied, keeping her voice calmer than she felt. “More importantly, the laptop has been taken into evidence.”

“You can’t do that.”

“I think your lawyers will tell you differently,” JT said. “We were waiting on the warrant for it to get here but Ms. Stern has already turned the laptop over.”

“I want it back. You can’t do this. I will not have my daughter’s private thoughts raked over by you people,” Mrs. Catherwood snarled, her hands shaking.

“Unfortunately, in a murder investigation very little stays private,” Bright replied.

“He’s not wrong,” one of the lawyers said. 

Mrs. Catherwood curled her lip at Bright, taking a few steps toward him before one of the lawyers caught her hand. “What are you doing here? I said I didn’t want you anywhere near this.”

“I work here.”

She made a derisive noise. “You don’t work. You’re a dilettante who’s here to bask in all the gory details of people’s tragedies.”

“What do you expect of Murder Malcolm, Aunt Nigella?” An oily smirk slithered over Zach’s face. “Remember me, killer?”

Dani instantly recognized what came over Malcolm this time. His head snapped back and his usual high energy bounce exited to be replaced with something utterly dangerous. Zach was in more jeopardy than he knew but JT didn’t miss it either. He put a hand on Bright’s shoulder, clamping it tight. The cold little smile knifing across Malcolm’s face chilled her. For the first time, she believed he was the Surgeon’s son.

“You’re hard to forget, Zach. Maybe you and I should sit down and talk like old days.”

Zach snorted. “You won’t enjoy it much.”

“You never know. We can go back there.” Malcolm pointed to the break room.

“Mr. Brake, do not speak to him,” another of the lawyers said.

“And I said he wasn’t to be anywhere near my daughter. Why am I being ignored?” Mrs. Catherwood glared at Bright.

“Because you can ask him to leave your home but you don’t control who I assign to this case,” Gil said, stalking out of his office. Jessica followed him. “Is there anything we can do for you, Mrs. Catherwood?”

She turned her hot gaze to Gil. “You can give me back my daughter’s laptop. This…woman has no rights to it.”

“Ms. Stern believed her partner’s laptop has evidentiary value and I agree.”

“She’s no partner.”

“No, I’m her wife.” Allison stood up after that admission stunned Mrs. Catherwood and pretty much the rest of the room. She hadn’t told Dani and Bright that. “My marriage certificate is also in the messenger bag. Morgana and I were married by a justice of the peace. We were planning an actual ceremony…” her voice broke. “For the summer. I should have said so last night but I was in shock and I didn’t know…you could have been doing what _she_ wanted. I had to be sure you were on Morgana’s side.” She inclined her head to Catherwood.

“That can’t be true. She is nothing but lies. My Morgana would never marry a woman,” Mrs. Catherwood said.

“It won’t take us long to find out,” Dani said. 

“Maybe you should go home, Mrs. Catherwood and allow my people to work,” Gil said. 

“You aren’t doing _anything_ to find who killed my daughter. I need to be here to make sure….” She paused when the lawyer Dani recognized from the crime scene put a hand on her arm.

“You should let them do their job, Nigella. The lieutenant and his men are right. They would have easily gotten the warrant to take the laptop,” he said.

“But Garret,”

“Let them do their job,” he said more firmly.

“And Mr. York, we also need to talk to you,” Gil said, and York narrowed his eyes.

“Why?” 

“Because very few people have access to the Catherwood apartment, and you’re one of those who has his own key,” Gil replied.

“You can’t possibly believe I had something to do with this.” York rocked back on his heels, visibly shaken.

“I didn’t say that but we need to talk about that key.”

“Where would you get such an absurd idea? I…oh, you!” Catherwood caught sight of Mrs. Whitly. She started for her but York grabbed her arm again. “What did you tell them, you bitch?”

“Watch your tongue, Nigella,” Mrs. Whitly returned evenly, unruffled by the fury unleashed her way. “Besides, everyone knows you and York are in a relationship. It’s the worst kept secret in our circle.”

“I like that you think you’re still in the circle, Jessica.” Catherwood sniffed. “What are you even doing in a place like this?”

“My son works here.” She waved a manicured hand to Bright. “I came to have breakfast with him.”

Catherwood made another derisive noise. “More like bribing his bosses to keep him employed.” She pointed to Gil.

Mrs. Whitly put a hand on Gil’s arm. “I don’t expect you to recognize Detective Arroyo, Nigella, but he’s the one who arrested Martin. He’s been my friend for twenty years. I don’t need to bribe him, and more importantly, Malcolm doesn’t _need_ me to bribe anyone. He’s very good at what he does or weren’t you invited to the Taylor wedding?”

Dani covered her mouth, trying to hide the smile at Mrs. Whitly sugary but unmistakable burn. Catherwood’s face turned a violent shade of red.

Catherwood spun on her heel and grabbed York’s arm. “Get me out of here.”

“Mr. York,” Gil started.

“I’ll be back with my own attorney, Lieutenant. Let’s not waste time. You know I’m not going to speak to you without representation,” York said.

Gil nodded. “I’m not surprised. Hopefully you’ll return soon so we can move on to other suspects.”

“Like whom? My nephew? I know you bothered him already. At least her brother is in Paris so you can’t waste time suspecting him,” Catherwood snapped. “Come on, Zachary. And if you think I’m not contesting this so-called marriage, you’re wrong.” She spat that at Allison.

“You can but it’s real,” she said, not backing down.

Catherwood huffed and whipped around, stalking out. 

Zach paused tossing a smirk Bright’s way. “See you, freaky.”

“The offer to talk is still open,” Bright replied and got flipped off for his troubles. 

Catherwood and her entourage left. JT put a hand on Allison’s shoulder. “Do you want someone to escort you out of here just in case that woman changes her mind?”

Allison nodded. “Please.”

JT beckoned over a uniformed officer and sent her on her way.

Jessica rubbed Bright’s shoulder. “Don’t let him get to you, Malcolm. You’re better than him in every way.”

“I know,” he said but he sounded a little raw from the encounter. Dani wished she could make it better. 

“All right. Let’s get into that laptop and see what if anything we can get from it,” Gil said.

“I’ll take it down to the lab,” Dani said, not seeing the tech JT had called. At least that would let her feel like they were getting somewhere other than driving headlong into a wall of entitlement and hate.


	5. A Dish Best Served Cold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I need a hot shower after writing Brake.
> 
> Thanks to Lizrects and her art for the inspiration of some of the things that Zach and his cronies used to call Malcolm in school

Chapter Five

Dani sipped her quadruple shot extra-large salted caramel cappuccino. After these last few days she needed all the caffeine and sugar she could safely ingest, though she wasn’t sure how safe four shots of espresso were. If her heart beat out of her chest, she’d kick Bright in the pants for putting the idea in her head. Late in the day after Catherwood had gone, leaving behind the residue of her hate and entitlement, Edrisa showed up with the report and an extra helping of flirtation for Bright who seemed as oblivious as ever. Apparently she wasn’t going to take the jealous path Dani was stumbling along. They had a partial DNA hit from the fingernail scrapings and the acid-damaged semen left inside Morgana. JT and Gil had been in an interrogation room with York at the time being stonewalled at the expert level, unsurprising really given who they were up against. It probably didn’t matter because the foreign DNA had familial markers shared by Morgana. 

It had given Dani the shudders thinking about betrayal by a family member like that, even though it was hardly unheard of one family member killing another. The rape took it to another level but sadly incest wasn’t as rare as one would want it to be. To make matters worse, the judge wouldn’t give them a warrant for Brake’s DNA because the evidence was only a partial DNA. The spirits among the team sank until Bright threw a Hail Mary pass and called Brake to ‘talk over the old days,’ because it would be ‘nice to talk to someone in his social class for a change.’ Even knowing he was playing to Brake’s prejudices, Dani hated hearing him say that, a sentiment which lasted for the three seconds it took Brake to agree to the meeting.

Brake knew JT and Gil too well. He’d seen her but he hadn’t paid much attention to her. Bright asked Dani to pull on her undercover experience rather than do this with a cop he didn’t know well. They’d both arrived at the coffee shop early. She’d listened in to his coffee order to be sure his wire was working, and then had to have the same order because it sounded so good. Dani parked herself in a far corner of the shop but still with a clear view of Bright’s table. Gil and JT were down the street, listening in as Bright’s wire recorded everything. She had dressed down in a t-shirt and jeans and found a pair of huge 80s style glasses she had used for a different case years back that had plain glass in them. She had dug up one of the wigs she had used back in the day, a quality one, natural looking with dozens of amethyst braids. Dani hadn’t missed the way Bright’s eyes had swept over her. He liked was he saw, no doubt about it. She’d have to remember that.

She sat at the table with a thick book that she could use to obscure even more of her face and look like she was reading instead of scrutinizing the table. Zach sauntered in and plopped down at Bright’s table without ordering anything. That wasn’t good. They hoped to get his DNA surreptitiously from the mug.

“Hey, Murder, figures you’d want to meet at a sissy coffee house, instead of a bar like a real man.” Zach punched Bright’s arm in a way no one would mistake it as a friendly guy-hit that men seemed to like to do. At least his voice was coming in clear and no doubt the recording would be good enough for court.

“If you had wanted to meet in a bar, you only had to say so.” Bright rolled his shoulders. “I like a good scotch or bourbon.”

Zach shrugged one shoulder. “This is fine. It’s bright in here. You can see clearly. Don’t see your boss hiding anywhere.”

“Why would he be here? We’re talking school days, right?” Bright smiled. 

“What do I know? Aunt Nigella thinks he’s doing your mom, so thought he might be lurking somewhere.” Zack smirked. “Keeping an eye on you.”

Dani nearly choked on her coffee. _This jerk is so rude,_ she thought but the way Gil and Mrs. Whitly had interacted over breakfast donuts made her wonder. She didn’t know what to think of that but she felt sorry for Bright either way since Brake was being so obnoxious about it.

“I’m fairly sure your aunt is just being malicious but even if she was right, what would that matter to me? If my mother is happy, I’m happy.”

“He’s sneaky and low class,” Zach said bitterly. “Luckily my lawyers are smarter than him. They’d be furious that I’m here but I figured good old Murder Malcolm is a little coward. He’s not going to try and confront me about any of this so why not come and see what you want? And you should care what people are saying about you. You can’t trust _those_ people.”

Dani wanted to say screw it to evidence collection and defend Gil by some judicious slams to Brake’s head starting with her book and progressing to things more painful. 

“Those People? Cops?”

Zach narrowed his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“Yes, I’m afraid I do.”

“Or is it you he’s sleeping with? God knows you had daddy issues, and everyone in school figured you were probably queer.” Zach chuckled maliciously. 

Bright swigged some of his coffee but she could see his body tense. He was probably contemplating burning the idiot’s eyes out with the coffee. “I have daddy issues, not a daddy kink. Two different things, Zach. Not that it matters if I’m queer or not, but I currently do have a girlfriend.”

“Sure, you do. Tell me, killer,” Zach leaned forward on the table, “who’d want to be with you?”

Malcolm didn’t so much as flinch even though it was obvious Zach wanted him to. “Let’s see, I have a cool job. I’m rich and reasonably attractive, I can say probably quite a few but I’m not here to talk about my love life.”

“Then why did you want to talk? We were never buds.”

Bright snorted. “No, we were not but it’s like I said, it would be nice, now that I’m back in town, to talk to some people in my circle. I might have a cool job but the people I work with….” He shrugged. “We don’t have much in common.”

“Of course not. They’re disposable people.” Zach grinned. “Do they even count as middle class?”

Dani clenched her book, biting back the urge to throw it.

“I wouldn’t have phrased it that way. The team is great, they really are but I mean, Tarmel is all pool halls and beer. Arroyo is into muscle cars. What do I have in common with them? I don’t know what end of the pool stick is up and a car is just something that gets me from point A to point B.”

“How about that woman you were with yesterday? Ever hit that?” Zach chucked Bright’s arm again but in a more friendly way this time. 

“No, I haven’t.”

“See? Knew you were gay.” Zach chortled, clapping his hand on the table.

“It’s not that I haven’t thought about it.” Bright spread his hands. “Powell’s gorgeous but we’re coworkers. It’s a bad idea.”

Dani knew he was playing to Zach’s line of questions but she wondered if there was any truth in it. Had he thought about it? She’d considered Bright once or twice if she were honest but definitely the coworker thing had played into it, not to mention her trust issues coupled with his.

“You always were a coward. Hell, you were such a sissy in school, you had Mommy get you an excuse to get out of gym for years.” Zach reached across the table and shoved Bright. He couldn’t seem to keep his hands off Bright, classic bully with the constant physical intimidation. 

Dani didn’t blame Mrs. Whitly if that were true. She probably feared Malcolm would get wolf packed in the locker room. He’d already been beaten more than once by his own admission. She hated to think anything worse had happened to him in the locker room before he had been given a get out of jail free card. She realized it was possible. Bright had plenty of reasons for his PTSD.

“I didn’t get out of gym. I simply did it in dojos in town.”

Zach snorted again. “Like you can fight.”

“You do know I was FBI until just a few months ago.” Bright scowled. “Trust me, I can fight.”

“Then why did you quit? Or is it true you were fired? I still have trouble believing you were ever an FBI agent. Too masculine for you.”

“Unfortunately, that was true. I took objection to a sheriff and punched him out.” Bright let out a self-deprecating chuckling. “Not my best moment.” 

“You? I can’t believe it.”

“He splattered me with a serial killer’s blood after I had talked the guy into surrendering but the sheriff shot him anyhow.” Bright made a face. “I don’t like it when I’m covered in someone else’s blood.”

For a second, Dani swore he glanced her way. She was surprised he’d admitted what happened. He’d never actually told her or JT why he’d been fired. She’d heard from Swanson what Bright had done. His gaze flicked right back to Zach but she thought he was embarrassed about the admission. Dani remembered that their first case together, he’d been splattered with another serial killer’s blood. She also remembered her horror at not only his confession to being The Surgeon’s son but at his thinly veiled ‘suicide by bad guy’ attempt. He swore he was good, that he hadn’t been able to let the killer pump poison into his veins. She knew he was lying because she had seen his eyes. Swanson’s warning about her career and Bright’s destructive nature rang in her ears. No, he wasn’t destructive. He was self-destructive, a key difference, and one she needed to keep in mind right now.

“That is a dumb reason to get fired.”

“You don’t hear me arguing. I lost my temper. I paid the price. Ever have to do that, Zach?”

Zach spread his arms wide. “Come on, at our level, we usually just buy our way out. Only idiots and the poor pay a price like you mean.”

“True. The feds didn’t go for it. I tried.”

That was a lie. Dani heard it in his voice. Malcolm had accepted his punishment, and she knew him well enough now to know it hurt.

“Speaking of buying, want something to drink? My treat. I could use a refill.” Bright gestured to the baristas.

“Yeah, sure just coffee. None of that girlie crap you’re drinking. I can smell the caramel from here, Momma’s boy.”

Honestly Dani didn’t know how Bright didn’t just reach across the table and pull this guy’s tongue out. Instead he smiled and went back to the counter. That was part of their plan. If Brake didn’t get his own drink, Bright would push him into it. Even if he didn’t confess, they’d get his DNA on the mug. Of course if Bright drank any more coffee right now he might vibrate out of his own skin. He came back quickly enough.

“Here you go, it’s Ethiopian yirgacheffe coffee. I think you’ll like it. Brought some sugar and cream if you want it.” Bright plopped everything on the table. 

“Is that tea?” He pointed to Bright’s mug. “That’s even girlier than the caramel coffee, killer.”

“Earl Grey.” Bright shrugged. “Powell likes it, and you got me thinking about her so I picked something she’d like.”

“What would your girl think of that?”

“Oh, I’m sure she would not approve.” Bright chuckled.

“So, no threesomes in your future.” Zach made a derisive sound. “As if you’d consider them.”

“Threesomes? Is there a guy alive who hasn’t thought about having a threesome? Of course I’ve thought about it.” Malcolm smirked. “Even thought about what it would be like with restraints.”

That time Dani did choke on her coffee and nearly sprayed her book. That didn’t sound like a lie. _God, men!_

“Which woman do you tie up first?” Zach sipped his coffee, and just like that they’d have DNA by the end of this nightmare.

“Neither. I’m the one in the restraints.”

“Murder Malcolm is still such a freak!” Zach roared with laughter. “How can you let a woman get advantage over you? They need to be put in their place.”

“All women?”

“Of course. But you were never good at that. Remember that townie when you were in your junior year, the one who followed you around like she had a chance at being anything but a toy?”

Malcolm twitched, nearly dropping his tea as his hand trembled. Zach had hit a nerve, and Dani knew instantly something bad had happened to this girl. “Chelsea?”

“Was that her name? I never bothered to learn it. She had to be put in her place.”

“I never knew why she suddenly started avoiding me,” Malcolm whispered, and Dani hoped he pulled it together. He was supposed to be finding Zach’s cracks, not the other way around.

“We had your back. And I see you still have that shaky hand, killer.”

Malcolm put his hand over the shaking one, staring down at it.

Dani doubted Zach could be interested in anyone’s pain for long, especially when he launched immediately into, “So is your girl another cop, speaking of people who need to learn their place.”

“No, she’s a lawyer. Like I said, Powell isn’t my girlfriend, though I did take her with me when I gate crashed the Taylor wedding.”

Zach laughed. “I heard all about that from Aunt Nigella. She went on for days about you and your mom being there. Didn’t know you showed up with a cop.”

“She’s the one who stopped the shooter while wearing a gown and heels. It was pretty damn awesome, actually.”

“So you find it hot when a woman takes charge?” Disgust dripped from Zach’s voice.

Malcolm leaned into that revulsion. “I do, so very hot! And it helped that Powell looked fabulous in that red gown and those heels. Just wow.” Malcolm rallied, getting back on track or at least she hoped that was what he was doing. From the sounds of it maybe he did have a fantasy or two about her in that dress. She couldn’t blame him. She _had_ looked amazing.

“You’re picturing her walking all over you in those heels. I can see it in your eyes, freaky. That shaky hand of yours stilled as soon as you thought of it. Should have known Murder Malcolm would get off on weird things.” Zach snorted. “Guess your dad was taken away too soon, didn’t get a chance to tell you how women _have_ to be handled.”

“Honestly I doubt having my father around would have changed how I treat women. He was always respectful toward them. Mother always ruled the roost.”

“Might be why he needed to control and kill other people.”

Malcolm frowned. “No, that’s because he has deep psychological issues independent of Mother.”

“Why do you let her bust your balls?”

“She’s my mother and I love her even if she makes me nuts.”

“Bet she’s happy you chose a lawyer over a cop.”

“Mother likes my girlfriend, no doubt of it. That said, she really likes Powell too, surprised me. I think they bonded a little after I was kidnapped by a serial killer.”

“Wow, that really happened? I heard the rumors.”

“I nearly died after he stabbed me but I was able to get away from him, and I beat him into submission with a crowbar.” Malcolm smiled, chilling Dani. He sounded too spooky.

“Can’t even picture it.”

“Like I said, I can fight. I simply choose not to.”

“Because you’re one of those goodie two shoe weaklings, like cousin Morgana. I’m surprised you didn’t try to get me to talk about her.”

Bright shook his head. “Like I said, I’m fresh back in town. I thought looking up some of the old circle would be good. I started talking to Vijay again recently. Though since you brought it up, I’m curious to hear you say Morgana was a goodie two shoe. That’s helpful to my profile, thank you.”

“What is this profiling stuff anyhow? You’re not even a real cop, right?”

Malcolm sipped his tea. “No, I’m not a cop. I’m a consultant. What I do is imagine the crime from the killer’s perspective.”

“Sounds like something you should know.”

Bright smiled, and Dani pushed back from the table a bit. He was going to go in for the kill and she knew it. She wanted no hurtles between her and him. “I do. For instance, I believe Morgana’s death wasn’t the objective. It was to punish her, to keep her quiet.”

“Quiet about what?”

“The rape, of course. Oh, I suppose I could be wrong and it could be about the money she was taking and giving to some middle class teacher but I don’t think so.” Bright twisted his teacup in his hand. He set it down. “The rapist might have wanted to teach Morgana a lesson. You know, how all a lesbian really needs is a good man. I don’t believe that personally, at all but I know a lot of men do.”

Zach exhaled like a draft horse at the end of Central Park carriage ride and his face darkened.

“But what I really think is he had to kill her because she saw the true man he was. That he was so inadequate with women he can’t perform when things are mutual. He’s a little…floppy, shall we say when she’s good to go and wants it.” Bright’s hand gestures as he spoke nearly slayed Dani. On the other hand, he was completely provoking Zach. “He’s lacking in the manhood department so he has to dominate her, has to force her to prove his manhood. Otherwise, she’s just going to know how pathetic he really is and he could _never_ have her out there telling everyone that. Because Morgana would and you know how news flies through our circle.”

“That’s not true. That is not how it happened.”

“Of course it is.” Bright grinned, his voice confident, smooth as fine whiskey. “I’m _very_ good at my job, Zach. The FBI didn’t fire me because I’m in the habit of making errors. I’m always on target. When my sister has me on her news segment tonight, that’s exactly what I’m going to say. Morgana’s killer is deficient as a man and could only prove himself by raping a defenseless woman.”

“You can’t tell people that!” Zach screamed, his face blotchy with rage.

“I’m going to because it’s true.”

“It’s not.”

Bright’s body tensed, posed for the kill. “Then why did you rape her, Zach?”

“Because that lezzy bitch needed to be put in her place,” Zach roared and Malcolm beamed. Dani got to her feet just as Zach’s fist caught Malcolm on the side of his jaw knocking him out of his chair.

Zach tried to take off but Malcolm captured his ankle, bringing him down, thankfully not onto the table. A few patrons screamed and a couple others made for the front door. Dani grabbed Zach’s arm pulling him away. Bright lurched up and punched Zach in the face, knocking him free of Dani’s grasp. Bright was on him like a lion on a gazelle. He beat Zach with both fists in a rage Dani had never seen in him before. This was a thirteen-year-old boy getting back at his bully, and she let him have his moment before pulling Bright free. She had her cuffs out and on Zach’s wrist in an instant.

“Secure his cup, Bright. We might still need it.” She could foresee a lawyer trying to toss the recording and the struggle to get a warrant for DNA. Dani tugged out her badge showing it to the panicking coffee house crowd. “We’re NYPD,” she shouted as she cuffed up Zach’s other wrist as he squirmed and moaned.

“Ow,” Malcolm moaned cradling his left hand.

“You didn’t refracture that hand did you, Bright?” she asked as JT and Gil raced in from where they had been listening in down the street.

“I hope not,” he said as she let JT haul Zach up, surprised he didn’t bump him head first into the nearby table on the way up for all the guy had put him through previously.

“Good job, kid,” Gil said before detouring to the counter. He came back with a bag of ice and handed it to Bright.

He pressed it to his left hand, holding it to his chest so he could grab his teacup. He finished it off in two long swallows. Never let it be said Bright wasted caffeine. 

Dani patted his back. “You did great, Bright.”

“Not going to lie.” Bright offered up a smile as brilliant as a June sun. “That felt great.”

She didn’t know if he meant the beating or the verbal battle. It didn’t matter. He won both. She poured the remaining coffee into his empty cup and took Brake’s coffee mug to the counter. “We need this for evidence.”

“Sure,” the barista said uncertainly.

Bright put the bag of ice on the counter and dug out a ten dollar bill. “For the mug.” He picked his ice pack back up and followed Dani outside where JT turned Brake over to a uniformed officer to transport.

“One question though,” Dani said. “Do you and I have to have a talk about that dress, your restraints and your threesome fantasies?” She grinned. Gil rolled his eyes.

Bright flushed. “No! And definitely not here!”

“Absolutely not here,” JT agreed. “But if we don’t see you in a few days, bro, I’ll assume the women made it so you can’t get free of your cuffs. I’ll send Gil to rescue you.”

“That might be where I draw the line.” Gil threw up his hands. “I’ll send his mother.”

“Oh god no. The images.” Bright shuddered, and Dani laughed hard.

She patted him on the back and opened the car door for him. “Get in there and behave yourself, Bright.”

“At least until she gets her heels on.” JT feinted as Dani tossed a light punch his way.

“I really hate everyone was listening in to that.” Bright moaned, climbing into the car. “I _had_ to go to his level in order to trick him.”

“Of course,” Dani agreed, and then leaned into the car and said softly, “But remember I could also see your face.”

A face that went redder than the dress in question. He managed to make embarrassment look cute. Still laughing, Dani got behind the wheel. If they were lucky, Zach Brake would never see the light of day again. Nothing she and the team did could ever erase the pain murder caused but at least there could be some justice in the end. That was her solace.

“Dani, when we get the DNA, can we run it against an older case even though I know the statutes of limitation is up.” Bright’s voice sounded thin, no longer joking.

“Chelsea? Do you think he raped her too?”

“Someone did. She would never speak to me after that. Gil and Mother both thought it was because of the trauma and that certainly can happen but I always wondered if it had to do with me. Now with this, I wonder even more, if Zach and his crew told her I was involved somehow. She killed herself a year later.” He sighed. “Still, I want to know.”

“Yeah, we can do that.” She took her hand off the steering wheel and gave his arm a squeeze. She couldn’t take away Malcolm’s demons but she could help him with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your support. The epilogue will come tomorrow.


	6. Epilogue -where the pain lurks

Epilogue

Dani paused halfway to her desk, after a bathroom run. Brake had been jailed days ago, and they had been busy since so much so she hadn’t even had time to check on the old case from Bright’s school days to see if Brake’s DNA matched in that rape. On the better yet still uncomfortable side of things, Bright had been in his element with the ballet case in a way that highlighted how different their worlds really were. She might never understand his world or him for that matter. He’d stood his mother up even though ballet was something he obviously enjoyed. Dani didn’t get that. She had paused to look at him now because something was different. His expression suggested someone had stolen his puppy. She glanced at the clock. It was nearly time to knock off and what little paperwork she had left could wait.

She crossed the room to his desk. “Hey, Bright? You okay? You’ve been…quiet all day.”

He sighed, not looking at her. “It’s personal.”

“Do you need to talk? We can get out of here, maybe grab something to eat.” Even as she said it, Dani knew it wasn’t her best idea. Bright rarely ate, and his girlfriend probably wouldn’t like it.

“I think I’d rather have something to drink.”

Dani rocked back on her heels, not expecting that response. “I know a place where we can do both.”

“Okay.”

Dani led the way to an Irish pub that was pretty cop friendly within walking distance. Gil had introduced it to her a long time ago with the surprising revelation that his mother was Irish. She figured Bright already knew that. He remained silent until they were in a snug with alcohol pending. She put in an order for a burger with bleu cheese, onion straws and candied bacon because she was starving and apparently in the mood to damage her heart. Malcolm, predictably, planned to dine on air.

“Do you feel like talking about it now?” she asked once the waitress came back with a Jameson whiskey for him and just water for her. Dani preferred to avoid alcohol even though it wasn’t her addiction. 

“Eve was the girl in the box’s sister,” he said without out preamble.

Dani choked on her water. She wiped the spatter off her lips, shocked. “What?”

His face lost color as his hand started to shake. His features pinched. He didn’t want to tell her more. He couldn’t keep it in either. “She originally hunted Mother down trying to see what she knew about the things my father had done.”

“That’s horrible.” Dani couldn’t believe what she was hearing. What would that feel like to know that someone had gone out with you just to use you? How did someone do something like that to another person? It was a betrayal and somehow Bright’s face wasn’t registering that, pain yes but not that he’d been used as a means to get to his father. How could this woman have _slept_ with the son of someone she believed murdered her sister? Dani couldn’t wrap her head around it.

“She needed answers,” he replied, making an excuse for her, defending Eve in a way that put Dani in mind of how Edrisa defended him regardless of what he did. “I took her to meet my father.”

At this point Dani regretted not getting some alcohol. “That could not have gone well.”

“He said he didn’t kill her sister.”

“Of course he’d say that.” She waved him off.

An odd war waged in those expressive blue eyes of his. Did he actually believe his father was innocent of that crime?

Bright sucked in a deep breath, his hand shaking in earnest now. “My father told us what happened and…I believed him that he let the girl in the box go. I know it sounds insane that he did and I can’t imagine why he would because she’d be such a threat to him. But I think I believe him. Maybe?”

“And she was Eve’s sister?” Dani still couldn’t comprehend that.

“Eve showed me a picture. I’m sure that her sister was the girl I found in the basement. Eve believed my father as well…and she left me.” His voice cracked a bit.

“Oh, Bright, I’m sorry.” Dani scooted around the snug so they were side by side instead of opposite one another. Their knees touched, and she put a hand on his arm.

He shook his head and knocked back his whiskey. “She wants to find her sister on her own, without my help. I offered but Eve refused. She’ll be back. She has to be, once she finds her sister.”

He wanted her to tell him he was right. That he hadn’t been dumped now that Eve had what she wanted of him. Dani didn’t know that she could tell him that. Anger coiled in her gut like a serpent. Her friend had been hurt in a way no one should be. It was a good thing Eve was gone because Dani wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop herself from venting her rage on the other woman. What she had done was monstrous regards of her reasons. Why not just claim the million dollar reward and be honest with them? Wait, she was in their lives before that, right? How long had she been playing Bright and his mother? What might Eve had done if she had concluded they knew what Martin Whitly had done and were covering for him?

“I wish I could tell you yes,” she said finally, realizing Bright expected an answer.

His lips trembled. “She left.”

“I’m sorry, Malcolm.” Dani put an arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer. He trembled. “I hate that she hurt you.”

Bright said nothing but he took in a shuddering breath. Her jealousy had converted to righteous anger. Eve had a piece of Malcolm, one Dani realized she would have liked herself, and she had broken it, deceived him about something that was so dark Dani couldn’t even imagine it. “It does hurt,” he admitted.

“I know. I wish I could make it better.”

“You do. You always listen to me even when I’m way out there.”

Dani smiled softly, holding him tighter. “That’s what friends do. You can always talk to me.”

“Thank you,” he whispered, leaning against her.

She let him sink back into his moody silence and ordered him another whiskey when the waitress walked by. Let him have as many as he wanted. She’d make sure he got home safely. Dani hurt for him but there wasn’t much she could do other than what she already was. If he needed a shoulder to cry on, hers was on offer. She would help him through the pain because he deserved someone in his corner besides Gil. She couldn’t protect him from this but she could try to make him feel better. Kindness mattered and for him she had an endless supply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all the support. It means a lot. Knowing someone is enjoying my stories means more will follow.


End file.
